Association of MTHFR 6771 variant allele with risk of intracerebral haemorrhage: A meta-analysis

Background: Previous studies concerning the association between methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism and risk of intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) reported conflicting results. A meta-analysis of published studies was performed to allow a more reliable estimate of this association. Methods: Relevant studies concerning the association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and risk of ICH were included into this meta-analysis. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (Cl) were determined for this gene-disease association using fixed or random effect models. Results: Finally, 16 studies with a total of 1828 cases and 4067 controls were included. Meta-analyses of a total of 16 studies showed that there was an obvious association of MTHFR 677T allele with risk of ICH under all four comparison models (ORT vs. C=1.38, 95% CI 1.17-1.62, P<0.001: ORTT vs. CC=1.90 95% CI 1.42-2.55, P<0.001: ORTT vs. TC/CC=138 95% CI 120-1.59, P<0.001; ORTT/TC vs. CC=1.41 95% CI 1.12-1.78, P=0.003). Besides, both subgroup analyses and sensitivity analysis further identified the association above. Conclusion: The MTHFR 677T allele is associated with risk of ICH, and individuals with IT genotype have an obviously higher risk of ICH than those with the CC genotype. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.